People will no longer languish in 'dead-end' jobs, the education secretary promised this week as she unveiled plans to extend skills training across the entire workforce.
District councils in Northern Ireland could be reduced from 26 to seven and given new legal powers under proposals published by the Review of Public Administration.
Work and Pensions Secretary Alan Johnson will chair a pensions summit next week, beginning the fresh negotiations over retirement plans promised to public sector unions following this week's...
The government's election supremo, Alan Milburn, will reveal the full cost to taxpayers of his Cabinet role following an approach from the National Audit Office.
The trouble with most reviews and inquiries is that as soon as they report, their recommendations get farmed out and either float off or sink. Sir Michael Bichard bucked the trend by coming back to...
The MRSA superbug has struck fear into the hearts of hospital patients throughout the UK. But now, with an election expected, the government claims the health service is winning its battle against...
The Private Finance Initiative has not gone away it's just adapted to meet changing times. Mark Hellowell explores the opportunities and pitfalls in the new areas that the programme is expanding...
Last week's Budget announced more support for university-based research. But will it be enough to save the science departments that are closing across Britain? Stephen Court reports on the parlous...
Housing will face an extremely tough Spending Review in 2006 unless it gets into the habit of making year-on-year efficiency gains, Simon Ridley, head of housing at the Treasury, told the National...
Unpublished research by the Conservative party has found that rural and smaller primary schools are resorting to 'drastic measures' to meet the national workload agreement, Tim Collins has told...
Gordon Brown heralded root-and-branch reforms to the regulation of public services as he used his Budget statement to announce plans to slash the number of inspectorates from 11 to four.
Sir Andrew Turnbull has admitted that the distinction made between back-office and frontline civil servants, one of the initial tenets of the government's £40bn efficiency agenda, 'was a mistake'.
Nine out of ten universities intend to charge tuition fees at the highest possible rate of £3,000 a year but they insist that poorer students will be supported with a generous package of bursaries.
The Freedom of Information Act brings greater transparency about public sector spending and decision-making. But there are some grey areas, such as internal audit and fraud investigations, where...
Directly elected mayors were once ministerial flavour of the month but the policy was resoundingly rejected by voters. Now, even John Prescott has converted to the idea. David Harding reports
Ealing council was improving by leaps and bounds, the Audit Commission itself said so. So when its 'good' assessment was downgraded to 'weak', the London borough went to court and won
As the political parties compete for the most radical cuts to red tape before the election, they are turning their magnifying glasses on to regulation and inspection. While a pruning is overdue, it...
The shadow chief secretary to the Treasury is unafraid to speak of huge Whitehall cuts in his plan for better public services. Joseph McHugh heard his battle strategy
